Ric Ocasek solo albums

Two of the solo albums by former Cars leader Ric Ocasek recently went out of print. Beatitude (1982) and Troublizing (1997) are now both reviewed on the Cars solo albums page.

Beatitude is arguably his best solo album to date. It employs a soothing and mellow electronic sound, without most of the Cars' rock and roll bounce. It basically set the pattern for Ocasek's subsequent solo efforts.

However, Troublizing was an exception. On that album, Ocasek fully embraced '90's alternative rock, and collaborated with such prominent alt-rockers as Billy Corgan and Melissa Auf der Maur. The results consist of more guitar noise than you would expect from an Ocasek album. Not his best work, perhaps, but no one can say it is indistinguishable from Ocasek's other work. After Troublizing, Ocasek took a casual eight-year hiatus before recording his next album, 2005's Nexterday.

Comments